The most common places Brits go for financial advice?

Whether you’re looking into getting a mortgage for your first home or deciding on the best type of car finance for your latest set of wheels, it’s fair to say that many of us can get a tad confused by the world of finance.

Even something as simple as car finance is filled with acronyms like APR, PCP finance, and HP finance, so it should come as no surprise that plenty of people online are seeking financial advice for their next move.

To see where exactly Brits are going for their financial advice, and how far they go to check it, we conducted a survey of 1,000 people across the UK asking three key questions:

· Where do you get your financial advice?

· How far do you go to verify this advice?

· How good is your financial knowledge?

With these results in hand, we can now reveal the most common places Brits go for financial advice, as well as the key differences we noticed between different ages and genders when it comes to doing financial research.

The top places Brits go for financial advice

From phoning their banks to scrolling social media, it seems there’s no place we Brits won’t look for our financial advice.

Thankfully, a large portion of those we surveyed head straight to the experts to answer their financial questions. 23% say that they reach out to financial advisors for tips and advice, while 22% say they always reach out to their bank first when they need help in financial matters.

Naturally, many others also turn to their friends and family for guidance. Out of those we surveyed, 12% go to friends as their first port of call, matched by the 12% turning to trusty Google for tips and tricks.

Even social media is not immune to being turned to for financial advice. 7% of those we surveyed say they turn to Facebook and YouTube for help with their finances and 5% admitted they even go scrolling on Instagram and TikTok for financial tips and tricks.

But perhaps most surprising of all, 31% of those we surveyed say they don’t seek financial advice at all.

How much do Brits verify financial advice from social media?

While not the main source of information, there is a large portion of Brits who turn to social media for financial advice. This makes sense given how prevalent social media has become in our lives, but not everyone out there giving advice is an expert.

Fortunately, 30% of those we surveyed mention that they verify everything they hear; either from a second source or directly from an expert. This was closely followed by 22% saying that they will check the majority of things they’re told online.

Interestingly, it seems that women are more thorough when it comes to checking online information, with 28% checking everything they hear compared to just 24% of men.

Sadly, 30% of those we surveyed say they don’t verify any of the information they receive from social media. What’s worse, however, is that those aged 16-24 are the most likely to ignore verifying social media information, despite making up the majority of its users.

Verifying information you receive from social media is something we at Zuto always recommend doing, especially if the person giving you the advice is not qualified to do so. Following unverified advice could potentially make your financial position worse, resulting in bad credit and preventing you from getting the type of finance you need.

How good do Brits think their finance knowledge is?

In spite of the large percentage of Brits that don’t seek financial advice, most people we surveyed are of the opinion that they have sound financial knowledge. Indeed, the net total of our results shows that 42% of Brits consider themselves to have good financial understanding.

Our survey also revealed that men appear to be more confident in their grasp of financial awareness (46%) than women, of which only 38% said they have a good understanding of financial terminology.

Unsurprisingly, 16-24-year-olds proved to be the least confident in their financial knowledge. Just 31% stated they have a good grasp while 29% claimed poor knowledge.

Based on our survey results, it would appear there’s quite a mix when it comes to how Brits approach their financial knowledge. But whether you go straight to social media or ask your parents what they’d do in your financial situation, the important takeaway should always be to go to an expert to verify whatever online information you’ve heard.

And if you’re specifically interested in car finance, the experts at Zuto are here to help. We specialise in providing car finance, especially bad credit car finance, to anyone who needs it. Contact our team today and we’ll help answer any questions you might have, or head over to our help and advice page for more information.